Dyson millions to fund school for inventors

The inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, Sir James Dyson, is investing millions of pounds in Britain's first specialist design and engineering school, which he hopes will inspire and educate generations of inventors and engineers.

The school in Bath - due to open in two years time - will teach 2,500 14- to 18-year olds from the area design, engineering and enterprise in line with the vocational institutions that the government wants to set up.

The building will cost £25m, of which Sir James is contributing £12.5m and the Department for Education and Skills the rest. Leading industrial partners such as Rolls-Royce and Airbus will also be involved, offering work experience and mentoring to students. The Bath-based engineering firm Rotork, which gave Sir James his first job, has also agreed to be a financial and educational partner.

Sir James said he was concerned that too many young people were not studying engineering, putting Britain's economy and heritage at risk. In an interview with Education Guardian, he said: "The dwindling numbers of engineering graduates is very worrying. We produce 24,000 a year. Compare that with 350,000 in China and 450,000 in India." In 2005 the UK produced 77,000 media and social studies graduates. "I read one survey that said 55% of graduates want to go into the media. I find this very worrying."